Vitamin C is a common dietary supplement typically taken in the form of pills or capsules to supplement the human diet. Taken as a supplement from fifty milligrams to 5,000 milligrams daily, vitamin C can support improved health and can improve the immune system. It is an important nutrient to help neutralize free radicals and promote maximum intercellular communication. However, it has to be consumed or replenished regularly since it is not retained in the body.
Commercially available vitamin C taken orally in supplements causes discomfort to many users. This is because the vitamin C reacts with the hydrochloric acid (HCL) in the user's stomach thereby generating excessive stomach acids. Specifically, vitamin C is very acidic with a pH of 4.2; and people with acid problems (44% of the U.S. population has either acid reflux or occasional heartburn) cannot tolerate this pH level. Although there are a number of common buffering tablets containing carbonate and bicarbonates that can be consumed with vitamin C to relieve this gastrointestinal stress, none of them is formulated to aid GERD reduction and the absorption and retention of the vitamin C.